Predicting nonlinear properties of metamaterials from the linear response

Abstract

The discovery of optical second harmonic generation in 1961 started modern nonlinear optics(1-3). Soon after, R. C. Miller found empirically that the nonlinear susceptibility could be predicted from the linear susceptibilities. This important relation, known as Miller's Rule(4,5), allows a rapid determination of nonlinear susceptibilities from linear properties. In recent years, metamaterials, artificial materials that exhibit intriguing linear optical properties not found in natural materials(6), have shown novel nonlinear properties such as phase-mismatch-free nonlinear generation(7), new quasi-phase matching capabilities(8,9) and large nonlinear susceptibilities(8-10). However, the understanding of nonlinear metamaterials is still in its infancy, with no general conclusion on the relationship between linear and nonlinear properties. The key question is then whether one can determine the nonlinear behaviour of these artificial materials from their exotic linear behaviour. Here, we show that the nonlinear oscillator model does not apply in general to nonlinear metamaterials. We show, instead, that it is possible to predict the relative nonlinear susceptibility of large classes of metamaterials using a more comprehensive nonlinear scattering theory, which allows efficient design of metamaterials with strong nonlinearity for important applications such as coherent Raman sensing, entangled photon generation and frequency conversion.